Ontario’s last chance to revive the Ring of Fire: Cohn

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Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci agrees that the development of Ontario's Ring of Fire must regain commercial momentum. His mandate is to negotiate a deal that is “fair and honest and equitable," writes Martin Regg Cohn.

Former interim Liberal leader Bob Rae says 40,000 people living in a region without road access are hardly anti-development, writes Martin Regg Cohn.

It was supposed to be Ontario’s next big thing — a $50-billion lucky star. But after years of hype, the Ring of Fire is back on the backburner — far off in time and space.

Plans to build chromite mines in the middle of nowhere, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, are going nowhere fast. The biggest private backer has backed out for now, complaining of government dithering and aboriginal dickering.

Will the Ring of Fire, a 4,000-square-kilometre mineral find in the far north, ever get off the ground?

Improbably, two white-haired lawyers from Toronto are trying to restore the flame: They are two hired guns negotiating against each other to find common ground over this remote territory.

Bob Rae represents the First Nations of the Far North. After serving as an unpaid adviser since March, he quit last month as a Liberal MP to take it on full-time.

Frank Iacobucci represents the Ontario government at the table. The premier’s office recruited the former Supreme Court justice after learning it was up against Rae.

They both have street cred, but can they cut a deal? The two antagonists tell me — and each other — they can’t afford not to.

The stakes are high: Valuable deposits of rare chromite (used for stainless steel), platinum and palladium — with resource revenues that could help the First Nations and boost Thunder Bay’s ailing economy.

The risks are huge: Potential damage to a delicate eco-system extending to the shores of Hudson Bay.

And the costs of failure, in terms of time and money, will be high if native groups cannot be dissuaded from pursuing their case in the courts at every step.

Rae says 40,000 people living in a region without road access are hardly anti-development. They recognize that with their isolation has come impoverishment, addiction, and lack of education. But they are also mindful of how other mining projects haven’t lived up to their promise in hiring local aboriginals or leveraging revenues.

The negotiations have the potential to “transform this part of the province for better or for worse,” he said by phone while en route to meet local bands.

“There’s no interest in delay,” Rae says, but they are adamant that “traditional life will not be destroyed.” With tens of billions of dollars at stake, “I don’t think First Nations communities should be nickel-and-dimed.”

Iacobucci agrees that the development must regain commercial momentum. His mandate is to negotiate a deal that is “fair and honest and equitable.”

But even the best negotiated agreement won’t work if it’s not commercially workable.

“What do we mean by resource-revenue sharing?” the former judge asks. “We could have the most successful First Nations agreement but if the commercial rationale disappears, it’s empty.”

If Ontario and the First Nations can’t sort out their differences, investors will keep their distance. The biggest player, U.S.-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., effectively placed the Ring of Fire on ice last month by demanding greater clarity on an environmental assessment. Its own balance sheet is looking weak as commodity prices plunge and it struggles to digest one of its recent acquisitions.

Rae says his clients are taking the long view. While ready to move, First Nations are mindful that the minerals won’t disappear if the project loses momentum.

The same cannot be said for the provincial government, which has been counting on royalty revenues to enrich the treasury since it touted the development in 2007. Premier Kathleen Wynne wants to make up for lost time.

Previously, as minister of aboriginal affairs, she tried to bring the First Nations into a bilateral dialogue, but others in cabinet kept her at bay. Now, as premier, she is getting her way.

With the launch of direct talks, both sides are counting on a couple of old lawyers to dig them out of a hole.

My bad: Writing about NDP ex-bad-boy Adam Giambrone in my Tuesday column, I overstated his pedigree. He was David Miller’s unofficial second-in-command, not deputy mayor.

But I understated his role in the NDP’s hierarchy: I’d forgotten that Giambrone co-chaired the party’s candidate search. At the 11th hour, he had second thoughts about the candidate he recruited for the Scarborough—Guildwood byelection — and recruited himself.